Coral Beauty Failure

[Marco S]

I have a 45 gallon QT with about 15 lbs of Live Rock that was properly cycled and is currently at 0 ppm Ammonia, 0 ppm nitrite and about 10 - 15 ppm nitrate. Salinity is 1.025 and PH is 8.2 and temp is around 78 - 79 degrees Fahrenheit. It will be about two months before I have the 180 gallon DT up and running so I decided not to medicate the QT unless needed.

I currently have two Oscellaris Clownfish, and five Banggia Cardinals that have been looking healthy and eating fine for about three weeks now. I am feeding them a mix of frozen Mysis Shrimp, freeze dried Brine Shrimp, flake and pellet food all mixed with a bit of water and several drops of garlic extreme and all the fish love it and eat all I give them and beg for more. I am currently feeding them twice a day.

I have made two attempts to keep a Coral Beauty and the first one looked perfectly healthy and swam around, but would not eat. I tried feeding other foods including seaweed and algae pellets with no success and it died after not eating for five days. I then intentionally grew a bunch of algae, (by opening all blinds and letting direct sunlight hit the tank all day) and then tried again with another Coral Beauty. This one did look like it had disease or was beaten up by other fish and I posted in the disease forum here with a video of the fish. It did graze on the algae all day for the first day or so and then stopped eating and died a couple days later.

I will probably give up on Coral Beauties for now, but figured I would reach out to see if anyone can think of any other parameters I should be testing or anything that would be killing just that particular fish when all the others are perfectly healthy and thriving?

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

If the second looked sick then go with your gut on that one, as for the first it would be hard to tell. Was the second in the same tank as the clowns and Cardinals? If so you may want to consider medicating now so you don’t get to “DT time” and then you see a spot on a fish.

 

[Marco S]

If the second looked sick then go with your gut on that one, as for the first it would be hard to tell. Was the second in the same tank as the clowns and Cardinals? If so you may want to consider medicating now so you don’t get to “DT time” and then you see a spot on a fish.

They were all in the same tank. I am moving them to a 20 gallon and will medicate it closer to when I start the cycle on the DT. I am leaving the live rock in the 45 gallon for a month without fish and then I will use it in the DT when I start the cycle for a month so I don't loose any life on it but it will be two months with no fish and should kill any parasites it may or may not have on it.

 

[67chevellemalibu2]

I lost a Coral Beauty, too. Was doing fine, but at the end, looked really beat up. I will never get another one. I like Flames better.

 

[Jesterrace]

I have a 45 gallon QT with about 15 lbs of Live Rock that was properly cycled and is currently at 0 ppm Ammonia, 0 ppm nitrite and about 10 - 15 ppm nitrate. Salinity is 1.025 and PH is 8.2 and temp is around 78 - 79 degrees Fahrenheit. It will be about two months before I have the 180 gallon DT up and running so I decided not to medicate the QT unless needed.

I currently have two Oscellaris Clownfish, and five Banggia Cardinals that have been looking healthy and eating fine for about three weeks now. I am feeding them a mix of frozen Mysis Shrimp, freeze dried Brine Shrimp, flake and pellet food all mixed with a bit of water and several drops of garlic extreme and all the fish love it and eat all I give them and beg for more. I am currently feeding them twice a day.

I have made two attempts to keep a Coral Beauty and the first one looked perfectly healthy and swam around, but would not eat. I tried feeding other foods including seaweed and algae pellets with no success and it died after not eating for five days. I then intentionally grew a bunch of algae, (by opening all blinds and letting direct sunlight hit the tank all day) and then tried again with another Coral Beauty. This one did look like it had disease or was beaten up by other fish and I posted in the disease forum here with a video of the fish. It did graze on the algae all day for the first day or so and then stopped eating and died a couple days later.

I will probably give up on Coral Beauties for now, but figured I would reach out to see if anyone can think of any other parameters I should be testing or anything that would be killing just that particular fish when all the others are perfectly healthy and thriving?

The Coral Beauty is generally considered the hardiest of the dwarf angels, so these specimens clearly had some other issues going on. Were these fish ordered online or did you pick them up at an LFS? I can't say for sure but if memory serves me correctly folks have better luck with the ones that come from Fiji (has to do with collection methods used). My CB on the other hand has been near bulletproof. Made it through a bout of ich, had a tang that hit it multiple times with it's scalpel and even healed up from a chunk out of it's forehead and tail fin. Also what are you feeding it? Reef Frenzy supplemented with Seaweed/Nori will go a long way to keeping it well fed and healthy. I did leave mine at my LFS for a few weeks to ensure it was healthy before brining it home though.

 

[Marco S]

The Coral Beauty is generally considered the hardiest of the dwarf angels, so these specimens clearly had some other issues going on. Were these fish ordered online or did you pick them up at an LFS? I can't say for sure but if memory serves me correctly folks have better luck with the ones that come from Fiji (has to do with collection methods used). My CB on the other hand has been near bulletproof. Made it through a bout of ich, had a tang that hit it multiple times with it's scalpel and even healed up from a chunk out of it's forehead and tail fin. Also what are you feeding it? Reef Frenzy supplemented with Seaweed/Nori will go a long way to keeping it well fed and healthy. I did leave mine at my LFS for a few weeks to ensure it was healthy before brining it home though.

I got both from my LFS and I specifically asked if they were eating and I did not notice any signs of disease or stress while they were in the tank at the LFS. I feed a combination of frozen Mysis Shrimp, freeze dried Brine Shrimp, Seachem Marine Flakes and New Life Spectrum Marine Pellets all mixed up in saltwater and a few drops of Kent Garlic Extreme. I also have a bit of algae in the tank and tried feeding seaweed. The first Coral Beauty did not eat anything at all and died in five days. The second one did not eat the mixed food, but did eat algae and nibbled on the seaweed and he died in about three days.

 

[lion king]

Coral Beauties as with many angels, or most any fish for that matter these days; come in with internal parasites. I've found many of these difficult to feed are actually suffering from internal parasites. What has worked for me is to immediately treat with prazi pro, I do mean immediately, drop the fish in, treat with prazi pro.

Your qt set up sounds just fine to get a coral beauty acclimated. Some pods and be ready with some live brine shrimp if he still seems to be picky. I then mix in the frozen brine and mysis with the live brine. Once eating prepared food I would mix some seachem metro/focus into the food to make sure any internal parasites have passed.

 

[Dmb092182]

I always dose prazipro and copper power almost right away. Sometimes they do not eat because of the parasite or worm.

 

[JumboShrimp]

My LFS had a Rusty Angel—which I was unfamiliar with—but is a great ‘Coral Beauty substitute.’

 

[theKoolAidMan]

I have a 45 gallon QT with about 15 lbs of Live Rock that was properly cycled and is currently at 0 ppm Ammonia, 0 ppm nitrite and about 10 - 15 ppm nitrate. Salinity is 1.025 and PH is 8.2 and temp is around 78 - 79 degrees Fahrenheit. It will be about two months before I have the 180 gallon DT up and running so I decided not to medicate the QT unless needed.

I currently have two Oscellaris Clownfish, and five Banggia Cardinals that have been looking healthy and eating fine for about three weeks now. I am feeding them a mix of frozen Mysis Shrimp, freeze dried Brine Shrimp, flake and pellet food all mixed with a bit of water and several drops of garlic extreme and all the fish love it and eat all I give them and beg for more. I am currently feeding them twice a day.

I have made two attempts to keep a Coral Beauty and the first one looked perfectly healthy and swam around, but would not eat. I tried feeding other foods including seaweed and algae pellets with no success and it died after not eating for five days. I then intentionally grew a bunch of algae, (by opening all blinds and letting direct sunlight hit the tank all day) and then tried again with another Coral Beauty. This one did look like it had disease or was beaten up by other fish and I posted in the disease forum here with a video of the fish. It did graze on the algae all day for the first day or so and then stopped eating and died a couple days later.

I will probably give up on Coral Beauties for now, but figured I would reach out to see if anyone can think of any other parameters I should be testing or anything that would be killing just that particular fish when all the others are perfectly healthy and thriving?

They're generally pretty tough and agreeable fish that will take frozen and pellets readily as well as nori sheets. If neither would eat and your parameters are all in line, you likely got two sick or severely stressed ones. I would probably consider the source you got them from before writing off the entire species.

 

[theKoolAidMan]

I lost a Coral Beauty, too. Was doing fine, but at the end, looked really beat up. I will never get another one. I like Flames better.

I think flames are better looking, however they're (in general) more aggressive and more likely to nip corals. Out of the pygmy angels the coral beauty has a track record of being the most agreeable and least likely to make a meal of corals.

 

[Jesterrace]

I agree with Koolaidman and some of the advice mentioned above. I left my CB at my LFS for a couple of weeks before I brought him home to ensure that he had some indications of longevity before I even took him home. He clearly did. How long were these CB's at your LFS before you purchased them/brought them home. As mentioned I would also see if you can find out where they are sourced from. Indonesia can be shady with it's fish collection practices (generally they come from Indonesia or Fiji and the Fiji ones are a little more expensive, but worth it IMHO).

 

[Jesterrace]

I think flames are better looking, however they're (in general) more aggressive and more likely to nip corals. Out of the pygmy angels the coral beauty has a track record of being the most agreeable and least likely to make a meal of corals.

I would say that both can make a meal out of corals, but I agree that you are less likely to have a CB be aggressive to tank mates than a Flame Angel. As for coloration, I agree that the Flame's colors definitely stand out more from a distance, but Coral Beauties actually have more color diversities if you get the right one. Some CBs are mostly that central tiger stripe pattern and I am admittedly not a fan. However some like mine are more of the Blue/Purple/Majenta around most of the body with the tiger stripe in the center. I have to admit when I saw it at the LFS, it looked fairly muted for color and I was wondering if I had made a poor purchase, but after he got in my tank and started swimming around in the front right under the lights, his blues almost glow and he can look purple at times. So although I would agree that the Flame is more eye catching from a distance the coral beauty actually has more color diversity than the flame, particularly if you get the right one.

 

[lion king]

If you really want a coral beauty
https://secure.liveaquaria.com/prod...ve-bred-biota?pcatid=5140&c=15+1500+5142+5140

 

[Marco S]

If you really want a coral beauty
https://secure.liveaquaria.com/prod...ve-bred-biota?pcatid=5140&c=15+1500+5142+5140

$89.99 is really high for a CB, isn't it? Is that because it's "Captive Bred"? I guess the 14 day guaranty is worth it though. I will probably wait until after the holidays if I am going to have anything shipped to me.

 

[Marco S]

i

I agree with Koolaidman and some of the advice mentioned above. I left my CB at my LFS for a couple of weeks before I brought him home to ensure that he had some indications of longevity before I even took him home. He clearly did. How long were these CB's at your LFS before you purchased them/brought them home. As mentioned I would also see if you can find out where they are sourced from. Indonesia can be shady with it's fish collection practices (generally they come from Indonesia or Fiji and the Fiji ones are a little more expensive, but worth it IMHO).

They said they keep most fish for 3 days in QT and then determine if they go up for sale or need additional QT and medication. All the tanks are really clean and I have not seen anything dead yet in my many visits over the last year or so.

 

[lion king]

$89.99 is really high for a CB, isn't it? Is that because it's "Captive Bred"? I guess the 14 day guaranty is worth it though. I will probably wait until after the holidays if I am going to have anything shipped to me.

Anything captive bred is going to be more expensive, have you priced the captive bred yellow tangs; but they won't be coming in with all the issues of disease and parasites that collected ones do. And the captive bred varieties are hardier, obviously adapt better to a captive environment, and other philosophical considerations.

 

[Normandy601]

My Biota CB from liveaquaria. Picture doesn't do it any justice. This fish is electric. Worth every penny IMO. I've watched quite a few Biota Videos and it appears that they all look like this.

 

[wesman42]

My Biota CB from liveaquaria. Picture doesn't do it any justice. This fish is electric. Worth every penny IMO. I've watched quite a few Biota Videos and it appears that they all look like this.

I had one from Biota that looooved lps. I agree on their looks though, seems to me like they're not muddying the genus with lookalikes.

 

[Jesterrace]

The Biota CBs are gorgeous and have vibrant colors like no other, but the difference in price is pretty steep ($35 for a Fiji caught CB vs $90) and if it starts nipping at corals that can be a pricey gamble. I agree though it will definitly increse your chances of getting one that lasts. Is everything else in your tank doing okay?